ILOLO City – Fifty-three personnel of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 6 were sent to Cebu City to help in the strict enforcement of the quarantine rules after the region was reverted back to the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).
The augmentation force took off yesterday, June 19 onboard a vessel, according to Police Lieutenant Colonel Gilbert Gorero, PRO-6 spokesperson.
Gorero said Region 7 sought extra force from the national headquarters for additional personnel to help for the security especially to Cebu and Talisay City that were categorized under ECQ by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) because of the growing number of COVID-19 cases there.
“Since we are nearest region, we sent 53 cops to Region 7 to help them,” Gorero said.
These 53 personnel recently graduated from Basic Internal Security Operation Course (BISOC) spearheaded by Police Major Antonio Benitez.
Of the 53, three of them were police officials, who will be manning non-commissioned officers.
During the send-off ceremony, they were reminded to be extra careful because COVID-19 is a high risk at Police Regional Office 7 (PRO-7).
“We know that the area in PRO-7, but they are still willing to help the people in the name of public service,” Gorero said.
He added that they must show their utmost dedication and discipline to set as an example among others and share their best practices on how PRO-6 handles the COVID-19 pandemic
Before leaving the PRO-6, the augmentation force was subjected to undergo swab test and they were given given medical certification before leaving to show that they are cleared of the virus.
They were also provided foods, personal protective equipment and medicines.
On the other hand, PRO-6 director Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan will create reserve forces for the augmentation personnel in case a problem arises.
Pamuspusan assured that the PRO-6 will monitor the situation of the 53 augmented cops./PN
